Col. McLeod Turner Monument, Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh
The 15 ft. tall monument of gray Vermont granite stands near the gated entrance to the
Confederate section of Oakwood Cemetery. The monument has a triple base above the
foundation and is topped with an obelisk. The upper base section has inscriptions on all four
sides detailing the record of Colonel McLeod Turner.
Images:
South face inscription |
North face inscription |
East face inscription |
West face inscription |
Monuments to Col. McLeod Turner, Col. Burgwyn and Randolph Shotwel
South face: IN MEMORIAM, / J. MCLEOD TURNER, / LIEUTENANT-COLONEL 7TH / REGIMENT,
NORTH CAROLINA TROOPS, / LANE’S BRIGADE, / PENDER’S DIVISION, HILL’S CORPS, / ARMY OF
NORTHERN VIRGINIA. / BORN / 25 FEBRUARY, 1841. / DIED / 24 SEPTEMBER 1882.
South face below inscription: TURNER
North face: CAPTAIN, MAJOR AND / LIEUTENANT-COLONEL IN LEE’S / ARMY AMOST BEFORE
MANHOOD, / HIS RECORD AS A SOLDIER WAS / UNSURPASSED. / NEW BERN, WHERE HE WAS
FIRST / WOUNDED; HANOVER COURT HOUSE, / THE BATTLES AROUND RICHMOND, / CEDAR,
MANASSAS PLAINS, / SECOND MANASSAS, WHERE HE / WAS AGAIN WOUNDED; FIRST /
FREDERICKSBURG, WHERE HE / WAS SHOT THROUGH THE LUNGS; / AND GETTYSBURG, WHERE
WITHIN / A FEW FEET OF THE FEDERAL / LINES HE WAS TWICE WOUNDED; ONCE / THROUGH
THE BODY-ALL / ATTEST HIS RARE SOLDIERLY / QUALITIES.
West face: HOPELESSLY WOUNDED / AT GETTYSBURG AND LONG / A CAPTIVE IN A NORTHERN
PRISON, FOR NEAR / TWENTY YEARS HE SUFFERED AS / NEVER MAN SUFFERED BEFORE, AND /
YET HE NEITHER MURMURED NOR / COMPLAINED, BUT THROUGH IT ALL / BORE HIMSELF SO
PATIENTLY, / SO RESIGNEDLY, AND EVEN SO / CHEERFULL, THAT, IF POSSIBLE, / HIS SPLENDID
GALLANTRY AS / A SOLDIER WAS ECLIPSED BY / HIS WONDERFUL FORTITUDE AS / A SUFFERER.
East face: HE DIED AND WAS BURIED / IN ANOTHER STATE, BUT HIS / COMRADES AND FRIENDS
HAVE / BROUGHT BACK HIS REMAINS TO / THIS STATE, HIS HOME, AND TO / THIS SPOT, AS
THEIR PROPER / FINAL RESTING PLACE, AND HAVE / ERECTED THIS MONUMENT IN /
AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE / OF HIM.
Oakwood
March 29, 1884
35.784930 , -78.627120
View in Geobrowse
"Col. Turner's Monument," The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), March 30, 1884 Link
"Confederate Order of Battle. Gettysburg Campaign," http://www.civilwar.org, (accessed November 6, 2015) Link
Historic Oakwood Cemetery, http://historicoakwoodcemetery.org (accessed May 19, 2021) Link
“Col. J. McLeod Turner,” New Bern Weekly Journal (New Bern, NC) March 15, 1883, 3
“LTC John McLeod Turner,” Find A Grave, (accessed October 30, 2015) Link
“New Monument at Oakwood,” News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) March 29, 1884, 4
Yes
Vermont granite
Local and state subscription
$500
The monument was erected in March, 1884.
Historic Oakwood Cemetery was founded in 1869 in North Carolina's capital, Raleigh, near the North Carolina State Capitol in the city's Historic Oakwood neighborhood. Annual Confederate Memorial Day services are held at the Oakwood Cemetery each May.
The memorial is located in Historic Oakwood Cemetery, at 701 Oakwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27601, in the Confederate section. The Memorial Arch, House of Memory, Confederate Monument, Memorial Wall, Gettysburg Memorial, Col. Burgwyn Monument, General George Anderson Monument, CSS H.L. Hunley Submarine Memorial, Randolph Shotwell Memorial, Arlington Dead Marker and the Civil War Sesquicentennial Marker stand in the same section of the Oakwood Cemetery. Outside the Confederate section are memorials to Worth Bagley and William Ruffin Cox.
The memorial is surrounded by grave markers and monuments.
Yes
The Oakwood Cemetery continues to serve for Confederate Memorial Services each Memorial Day.
Know anything else about this monument that isn't mentioned here? If you have additional information on
this or any other monument in our collection fill out the form at the Contact Us link in the footer. Thank you.
